rehctub,

"As with any negotiation, the one holding the cards (Abbott) has to start at a high point, then work down......"

You think the Abbott govt budget is a high point?

And he's holding the cards.

ROFL!

His back's against the wall...he's almost universally hated and ridiculed (now internationally) as a lying disingenuous rogue of a Prime Minister.

Oh dear!....

Has anyone noticed a change in Joe Hockey’s approach to the economy? It seems we are not in a budget emergency after all. It seems the latest national accounts figures suggest things are on the improve.

The latest national accounts figures show a growing economy; 0.8% for the December quarter. That’s a much better result than the September quarter’s 0.6%. The Treasurer says it is still below trend of 3-3.25% per annum but he was being cautious. Considering all the doom and gloom he was predicting prior to the election one would expect him to be guarded in what he said but, given this unexpected upturn, he must find the latest figures something of a dilemma. He should be over the moon but he knows he can’t take any credit for them because he hasn’t done anything yet. They belong to Labor. And, if you multiply December’s 0.8% by 4 you get 3.2% per annum which if it continues at that rate, is bang on trend. And none of it will have anything to do with Joe Hockey. It will all belong to Labor.

Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne is considering targeting the estates of deceased former university students to recover outstanding HECS debts. Nine News.
Federal Education Minister Christopher Pyne has floated the idea of collecting student debts from the dead as a way of boosting the budget bottom line.
Mr Pyne told Fairfax Media on Wednesday he had no "ideological opposition" to collecting debts from the estates of former students who died owing money to the govt;
Proposed the idea of collecting HECS debts from the dead as a way to boost the budget bottom line: Education Minister Christopher Pyne. Photo: Andrew Meares
"[If] an elderly person passes away with a HECS debt, they wouldn't be able to say to the bank, we're not paying back our mortgage, yet they are at the moment entitled to not pay back their HECS debt," Mr Pyne said.

Indy, was that a joke; "Sounds to me like a Labor supporter avoiding tax." These small business types see themselves as a cut above those rough Labor types, and by and large, like you, vote for Tax Em' Tony and those of his ilk. If every cent of GST was paid, LOL, and every cent of company tax was paid, LOL, there would be no so called "budget emergency" with that estimated $7 billion that is ripped off every year, a decent government, not one lead by your man Tony, could do a world of good. Do you not agree?

THE PROBLEM/WITH THE BUDGET..is..not enough govt debt
too much private debt..[do the numbers..govt lends at under 4 percentwe consumers pay maybe 8percent..[if we mortgauge our house]

or what 12 percent..iF LOAN..OR HEAPS MORE
BUT THE KEY is the intrsT RATE/GOVT CAN BORROW AT HALF WHAT WE CAN/IF GOVT WANTS MNO DEBT..THAT MEANS WE GET THE DEBT/BUT AT A Higher rate of ost intrest.

govt wants to sell off the asstets cto it maTES
BUT THEY ARE SOld under acts iof treaon/ie the royal mint is owed tRILLIONS IN SILVER AND GOLD AND LOST VALUES LOOTED FROM IT WHEN THE QUEENS COIN WAS DEBASED IN 66..[HIGH TREASON/NOW THEY GOING TO SELL THE PROOF HELD IN SACRED TRust in the royAL MINT ARCHIVES./BOOKS..IN AFFECT COVERING UP TREASONOUS CRIMES RETROSPECTIVELY

ITS THE ENRON PLAN FOR WORLD DOMINATION
SEQULAR..VIA JP MORGAN/BILDERBERG..as gods incarnate
there are 7000 imbred elites that hold half the worlds wealth/they hife in that one percent/of moneyed/or otherwise empowerd..elites hiding wealth in family trusts tax free/much of it ooted from drug dependency..and other moral/civil levels/of\criminality

Turnbull is the front runner. When leadership challengers are denied it is in the offering.